Travesty of Undetected Hypoparathyroidism: A Series of Missed Opportunities

Cureus. 2023 Jun 23;15(6):e40876. doi: 10.7759/cureus.40876. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Abstract

We describe a 20-year-old male with childhood-onset seizures and a prolonged history of anti-epileptic use. The cause of his seizures remained undetected until he reached the second decade of his life. Extensive intracranial calcifications on brain imaging helped us identify hypocalcemia as a cause of seizures. He had low calcium due to primary hypoparathyroidism. He also had severe aplastic anemia at this time. There were a series of missed opportunities in his history that could have prevented prolonged anti-epileptic use and probably preserved his marrow. This is an educational case for all physicians on how parathyroid abnormalities may get missed.

Keywords: bilateral intracranial calcification; bone marrow suppression; fahr´s syndrome; hypocalcemia; non surgical hypoparathyroidism; seizure; severe aplastic anemia.

Publication types

  • Case Reports